Who Gets To Experiment?

Australia is full of white chefs who often receive critical acclaim for cooking cuisines they have no personal connection to, while migrant chefs are expected to stay in their lane. Why do some chefs get the creative freedom to experiment while others are seen as gatekeepers of tradition? Who is allowed to play and innovate? Jess Ho chats with chef Eun Hee An, owner of Moon Mart, to examine the structural barriers that limit who gets to cook “their” food and have it taken seriously.

I do think I will be a little bit more ambitious, and be a little bit more bold, because I realised that there are lots of people who actually are interested.

Eun Hee An

Chef Eun Hee An (left) and Jess Ho outside Moon Mart.

I think that's [why] every chef suffers... when they create dishes, I don't think everyone can make it…perfect in one go. But I think that's also the beauty of how you create dishes.

Eun Hee An

Credits

Hosted and Created by Jess Ho

Executive Producer: Beth Atkinson-Quinton

Senior Producer: Elle Marsh

Producer: Bez Zewdie

Sound Designer: Nicole Pingon

Mixed by Max Gosford

Theme and additional original music is by Jon Tjhia

Artwork: Jason Phu

SBS team: Joel Supple, Bernadette Phương Nam Nguyễn and Philip Soliman